Typical newsreel from the silent era, featuring Jack Dempsey, a balloon race, women dancing in chilly breezes, a juggler, and opium being confiscated and burned in Shanghai.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Kinograms
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Si, B&W
Keywords: Newsreels; China; Substance abuse: Drugs

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Archive fan - - November 5, 2006
Subject: That juggler
The unknown juggler/mime whose name is truncated in the credits is the famous (and now largely forgotton)Broadway star Joe Cook. He also sporadically appeared in films, even one directed by Frank Capra.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - December 17, 2005
Subject: NIMBLE NYMPH ALERT!!!
Fun footage of hardly world events.. But still events just the same!

1st we see Jack Dempsey awarding an auto race.. Is this his own race?
2nd, we see another race. This time theyÂre balloons! Odd shaped ones.. The Gordon Bennett race! 5 people die! We donÂt see them.. But here they are before they died! 2 of them died when they were hit by lightning. Ouch!
3rd, we see a weird parade of what can only be described as puppet boats.. Hmm, how were these operated?
4th, we see the FINE dancing skills of the Chicago Opera company. Is it me, or are they just prancing around? Weird. Love that sort of oldtime carefree dancing though.
After that.. Opium bust! We see Shanghai police bust an Opium den, and then dispose of the opium Âthe official wayÂ. In China, thereÂs an official way for everything..
Finally, we see a GREAT juggler juggling with balls and pins. We also see him in slow motion! Woo! HeÂs good! HeÂs also a great mime artist too!

What, thatÂs IT? Awwww.. that was good!

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - May 22, 2003
Subject: (Soft) News Of The Day
A typical early newsreel, there is some really good footage in this piece. Period car and balloon racing is of great historical interest. The shots of the ballet dancers, stages as nymphs in a Chicago park feels very typically 1920s. By today's standards, the $8000 worth of opium that was burned is a pitance.

However, the best footage by far in this set is of the juggler. What really set it apart is the fact that the routine is shown at both normal and slow motion. The trick photography of a really skilled juggler performing his routine is still fascniating after 75 years.

Shotlist

Complete contents of can 5484: Jack Dempsey gets a loving cup at Disabled Veterans Day at Ascot race in Los Angeles; Brussels, Belgium: First views of the Gordon Bennett Race in which five balloonists died; Lake Merritt, Oakland, California : Fairyland Flotilla in historic fete; Chicago, Illinois nymphs (actually members of the ballet corps of the Chicago Opera) don't mind chilly breezes; Shanghai, China: Opium confiscated and burned; Joe Cook does his juggling act.



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